Lipases are enzymes which are involved in the breakdown of fats. Lipases are commercially important enzymes which have many current uses, including as reagents in food preparation processes (e.g., as additives to animal feeds), industrial degradative processes, crop engineering and even as treatments for several human diseases (e.g., indigestion and heartburn (e.g., for pancreatic insufficiency), secondary cystic fibrosis, Celiac disease, Crohn's disease, obesity, etc.). The activities and sequences of several hundred lipases are known. See, e.g., the world wide web at led.uni-stuttgart.de/.
Because lipase enzymes are of considerable commercial value, the identification and development of new lipase enzymes is desirable. The present invention relates to new lipase proteins and nucleic acids, e.g., having novel sequences and activities, as well as variants thereof.